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THE PACIFIER

When a military inventor is killed, Navy SEAL Vin Diesel takes charge of his brood of four kids in this frenetic family comedy from Adam Shankman. There's some sketchy plot about ninja neighbors and a hidden thingamabob everybody needs to find, but it's mostly standard operating procedure: Take a bad-ass tough guy, make him change diapers, and help him locate his inner softie. Predictably the bratty kids fall into military lockstep with winning results. Much of the resolution comes through violence and physical prowess, which might be fine for SEALs but less so for impressionable kids. The jokes are of the pratfall variety, though I'm still mulling over the two separate references to Diesel's bitch tits, the leering wrestling coach Brad Garrett and The Sound of Music sub-plot. Don't ask, don't tell.